Trading Summary (January 27, 2004)

Plus-2% gains by the gold and telecommunications subindices weren’t enough to keep the Toronto Stock Exchange out of the red on Tuesday. The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 6.74 points to 8,588.18 while the golds grew by 5.32 points to 207.05. The base metal miners dropped 4.29 points to end at 219.1.

Wheaton River Minerals was the most traded mining issue gaining 20, or nearly 6%, to reach $3.61 with about 6.5 million shares changing hands. On Tuesday, Wheaton said it would begin trading its shares in U.S. dollars on the TSX (under the symbol WRM.U) beginning Feb. 2. The company hopes to tap in to an additional pool of liquidity among U.S. investors. The company’s shares will continue to trade in Canadian funds. Wheaton also trades on the American Stock Exchange.

Quebec City-based industrial minerals miner, Mazarin saw heavier-than-usual trading gaining 4, or 50%, to make 12 on 3.7 million shares. Mazarin recently spun off its niobium, dolomite and graphite assets into newly formed Sequoia Minerals, leaving only the troubled chrysotile-asbestos assets under the Mazarin banner. For their part, shares in Sequoia finished 3 lower at 45.

TVI Pacific grabbed third spot trading just short 3.5 million shares up 1.5 to 32. The company recently released an updated resource estimate at its Canatuan polymetallic project in the Philippines, and Lafayette Mining of Australia has begun construction at the Rapu Rapu polymetallic project, also in the Philippines. TVI retains a 2.5% net smelter return in the latter.

Inmet Mining reports that its 18%-owned Ok Tedi copper mine in Papua New Guinea will operate at a minimum of half-capacity for at least the next two months after the failure of one of the operation’s two semi-autogenous grinding mills. The company’s shares dropped 81, or about 5%, to $15.70.

Canada’s junior exchange posted meagre gains as gold clawed its way back up the chart. Advancing stocks lost to declining stocks 431-to-473 and the S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index closed at 1799.72, up 3.68 points, or 0.20% with 78.4 million shares traded.Canadian Royalties closed at $2.15, up a dime, with 2.6 million shares traded. The company recently tabled assays from its Raglan South trend project, situated 15 km south of Falconbridge’s Raglan mine. At the Expo Northeast zone, hole EX-62 cut 108.2 metres averaging 0.87% nickel, 0.69% copper, 0.26 gram per tonne platinum and 1.40 gram palladium. This included a 18.75-metre section that averaged 2.12% nickel, 1.37% copper, 0.08% cobalt, 0.42 gram platinum and 2.99 grams palladium.

Atikwa Minerals finished the day at 23, up a nickel, with 1.08 million shares traded. The junior has completed a non-brokered private placement of 10 million units at 10 cents each, for total gross proceeds of $1-million. The company is looking for more gold at the past producing Echo mine, situated 35 km northeast of Dryden Ontario.

ECU Silver Mining closed the day at 29.5, up 2.5, with 1.04 million shares traded. The company announced that it has entered into a private placement financing worth $999,000. ECU has issued a total of 4.9 million units at a price of 20 per unit. Each unit consists of one common share and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder to acquire one common share at a price of 26 for a period of two years. The money will be used to pay for exploration drilling at the Santa Juana mine, as well as for general production costs in Mexico.

EuroZinc closed the day up a nickel to 47 with 2.9 million shares traded. The company recently arranged a $30-million special warrant financing with a syndicate of underwriters. The financing will comprise 75 million special warrants where each special warrant will be sold at a price of 40 and to be convertible, for no additional consideration, into one unit consisting of one EuroZinc common share and one-half of one share purchase warrant. Each full share purchase warrant shall entitle the holder to purchase one EuroZinc common share at a price of 50 exercisable for the first 12 months, rising to an exercise price of 75 for the subsequent 12 months, after the closing date of the offering. The proceeds of the offering will be placed in escrow pending the announcement of a definitive agreement for the purchase of Neves Corvo in the event that EuroZinc is announced as the winner of the sale process.